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Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales

Readers are enamored with the bookish, blunt Miss Wilde and her dashing fiancé, fellow academic and secret Faerie prince Wendell Barnaby. The pair’s latest adventure sees them taking the throne of Wendell’s kingdom, only to find out that his evil stepmother has placed a curse on the realm.

The Devils

By Joe Abercrombie

The book world can be a bit like a pendulum when it comes to trends: For every rom-com revival, there’s a rise in dark romance. Hopepunk and cozy fantasy have reigned supreme for the last few years in SFF, so does that mean we’ll see grimdark rise again? Joe Abercrombie, one of the original purveyors of that gritty, ruthless approach to high fantasy, may kickstart a new wave with The Devils. Set in an alternate version of medieval Europe, The Devils sounds, honest to god, like a fantasy take on The Suicide Squad: The team is made up of a werewolf, a vampire, an elf, an immortal warrior and a monk, and according to Abercrombie, they’ve been tasked with solving “problems the righteous are not equipped to tackle.”

When the Moon Hits Your Eye

By John Scalzi

Silliness abounds in the sci-fi novels of John Scalzi lately, and honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve had kaiju, we’ve had supervillains with all-cat staffs and now we have a whole book dedicated to what would happen if the moon suddenly turned into an enormous orb of cheese. We haven’t a clue how seriously Scalzi will take this premise, but we can’t wait to find out.

Queen Demon

By Martha Wells

Murderbot creator Martha Wells made her grand return to fantasy with 2023’s Witch King, and Queen Demon continues the story of Kai, a demon prince who was incapacitated and imprisoned for centuries before finally freeing himself, and must now face a world radically changed in his absence.

The Martian Contingency

By Mary Robinette Kowal

The Lady Astronaut series takes place in an alternate midcentury Earth, where a meteor strike in 1952 radically accelerated the planet’s various space programs, opening the doors for women to play a large part in the exploration of the stars. In the fourth book of the series, humanity has colonized the moon and is about to begin the process on Mars. Trailblazing astronaut Elma York lands on the red planet eager to begin, but soon uncovers troubling hints that there was some sort of disaster during the first expedition to Mars, a disaster that the current authorities seem anxious to cover up.

Cold Eternity

By S.A. Barnes

We loved both of S.A. Barnes’ previous sci-fi horror novels and cannot wait for her next terrifying excursion into the black. Cold Eternity’s setting is terrifying even by Barnes’ high standards: a space barge full of cryogenically frozen people, populated only by one woman on the run and the barge’s creepy AI hologram “hosts.”

The Library at Hellebore

By Cassandra Khaw

With the rise of the dark academia aesthetic, there have been a whole passel of fantasy novels set at magical schools. If anyone can take the trope in a new and terrifying direction, it’s horror author Cassandra Khaw, the bloodthirsty genius behind Nothing But Blackened Teeth and The Dead Take the A Train.

King Sorrow

By Joe Hill

It’s been more than eight years since Joe Hill published a novel, but fans of the Locus and Eisner Award-winning writer can look forward to a fifth full-length work of fiction in 2025. (And for Hill, “full-length” is likely to be at least 500 pages—he is, after all, a son of Stephen King.) While plot details are scant this early on, King Sorrow sounds like a fantasy-horror hybrid, a la Hill’s debut, Horns, as it tells the story of six friends who dabble in the occult and summon something rather unexpected.

A Far Better Thing

By H.G. Parry

We’re big fans here at BookPage HQ of Parry’s joyously nerdy approach to historical fantasy, whether she’s dreaming up a French Revolution but with sorcerers or a World War I fought with faerie magic. A Far Better Thing sounds like a combination of all of Parry’s books to date: faeries, the French Revolution and the classic literature revisionism of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep. In a brilliant spin on A Tale of Two Cities, Parry transforms coincidental lookalikes Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay into a boy kidnapped by faeries and the changeling left in his place, respectively. And as the book opens, the now-grown Sidney is out for revenge.

Written on the Dark

By Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay doesn’t usually write historical fantasy; most of his work is set in fictional worlds. But in every other way that matters, he’s one of the best historical fantasy authors alive. Many of Kay’s fantasies are set in worlds just one step away from our own, exhaustively researched and beautifully realized reimaginings of eras such as Tang Dynasty China or Renaissance Europe, whose separation from our reality allows Kay to comment freely upon our cultural foibles and historical sins. His latest, Written on the Dark, will take place in a world inspired by the chaotic, captivating tapestry of medieval France.

Wearing the Lion

By John Wiswell

John Wiswell’s debut, Someone You Can Build a Nest In, was a lovable and ambitious fantasy romance starring an inhuman monster impossible to not fall for. In his sophomore novel, Wiswell appears to be continuing in that vein: His retelling of the Hercules myth will see the iconic hero caring for the monsters set against him, rather than defeating them. Meanwhile, Hera, the goddess responsible for Hercules’ trials and tribulations, tries to come to terms with her guilt over her actions.

The Staircase in the Woods

By Chuck Wendig

Horror maestro Chuck Wendig’s latest doorstopper feels slightly Stephen King-esque: Five high school friends on a camping trip discover a staircase to nowhere in the middle of the forest. One walks up and never comes down, so when the staircase reappears 20 years later, the four remaining band together to rescue their lost friend from . . . whatever is up there.

Slaying the Vampire Conqueror

By Carissa Broadbent

Before readers get a sequel to Carissa Broadbent’s The Songbird & the Heart of Stone, the author will take a quick detour with this standalone novel. Sylina is a devoted acolyte and assassin of the Goddess of Fate, and her latest assignment is to gain the trust of Atrius, a vampire intent on conquering the kingdom of Glaea—and kill him. As one would expect, this plan hits several snags as Sylina learns more about Atrius and his mysterious past.

Before readers get a sequel to Carissa Broadbent's The Songbird & the Heart of Stone, the author will take a quick detour with this standalone novel. Sylina is a devoted acolyte and assassin of the Goddess of Fate, and her latest assignment is to…

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